Why is Somalia unwilling to meet Finland’s conditions for continuing development cooperation?

Finland suspended its development cooperation with Somalia last November. At that time, Finland’s Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, Ville Tavio (Finns Party), made it a condition that Somalia must begin taking back its citizens who are residing illegally in Finland and/or who have committed crimes. The minister did not specify in more detail what kind of change would be sufficient for cooperation to resume.

According to media reports, however, Tavio has suggested that one condition for development aid would be the return of one hundred Somalis to Somalia, although this has not been officially recorded. Last Monday, the minister reiterated that development aid to Somalia will remain suspended, since the repatriations of Somalis have not progressed as hoped.

Some progress has nevertheless been made, as Somalia had previously refused altogether to accept any of its citizens deported from Finland. Since the suspension of development cooperation, Finland has returned 11 Somali citizens, three of whom went back voluntarily.

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In Somalia, the government has expressed a desire to refuse compliance with Finland’s demand to take back its citizens, showing irritation and describing Finland’s conditions as blackmail. The background is thought to lie in the fact that Somalis do not want to receive back citizens deported from abroad, some of whom have committed crimes.

This year, the Finnish Immigration Service has issued only 128 removal decisions for Somalis, meaning the number of people to be returned is not particularly large. Nevertheless, Somalia has accepted less than ten percent of the citizens who were intended to be sent back.

If the pace does not improve, it means that Finland will not spend the roughly nine million euros earmarked this year for cooperation with Somalia. That money was intended to support the improvement of the status of girls and women in difficult situations in Somalia.

That is why I, at least, cannot help but wonder whether Somali politicians’ reluctance stems more from the goals of the development cooperation itself than from the potential problems caused by Somalis who are to be returned. Hopefully, of course, I am wrong about this, and the Somali government does—in contrast to the suspicion that crossed my mind—have a genuine desire to improve the position of women in the country.

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Finland Suspends Development Cooperation with Somalia

Finland is suspending its development cooperation with Somalia. The decision follows the Finnish government’s policy that development aid will only be provided to countries that accept the return of their nationals whose asylum applications have been deemed unfounded. Somalia has not fulfilled this requirement.

According to Finland's Minister for Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade Ville Tavio (Finns Party), who announced the decision, “Suspension means that no new funding decisions related to the country program will be made until there is concrete progress in return cooperation with Somalia. I believe it wouldn’t take very long if sufficient will exists.”

He further stated, “Now we are suspending funding for the country program and hope it can resume with minimal disruption. In other words, we hope to move forward through cooperation.” This indicates that Finland views development cooperation with Somalia positively but expects reciprocity on migration issues.

The ball is now in the Somali government’s court, which has two options. The first is to accept both Finland’s development aid and the return of Somali nationals being repatriated from Finland for various reasons. The second option is to refuse to accept deportees and try to manage without Finnish development aid.

It remains to be seen which option Somalia will choose. If the latter, Finland and Finnish taxpayers will save nearly ten million euros annually. If the former, Finland will achieve the removal of illegal immigrants and continue to support Somalia in building a more functional society.

From Finland’s perspective, the first option also has the benefit of potentially serving as a model for development cooperation with other countries that send large numbers of migrants to the EU. This, in turn, could help curb the influx of illegal immigration into Finnish society from elsewhere.

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Change of immigration policy and development cooperation

Finland is considered a prosperous Western country, and accordingly, it has been allocating approximately two percent of its annual state budget to development aid. However, in the program of the government that came into power this summer, this funding has been significantly reduced.

At the same time, Finland has decided to change the conditions of its development cooperation. The most notable changes include directing aid to Ukraine and, conversely, denying it to countries that support Russia in its illegal war against its neighboring country. This applies to countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Vietnam, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan if they do not change their stance on the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Furthermore, the Finnish government has decided that development aid will not be granted to countries that do not accept their own citizens without a residence permit in Finland. This is a significant change in Finnish asylum policy, which has led to an increasing number of undocumented migrants from developing countries staying in the country, along with a rise in certain types of crimes.

According to recent information, Finland's western neighbor Sweden has set an example. It announced excluding Mali from its development aid due to its support for Russia.

Hopefully, Finland will also make similar decisions to streamline its development aid policy and humanitarian immigration policy. At the same time, the Finnish government has decided to increase incentives for skilled labor immigration. 

Therefore, it is crucial for a country with high taxation and a Western-average salary level to maintain attractive features for quality labor — features such as a safe society and a balanced public economy that enables good services. Both of these goals can be achieved through the designed changes described above.

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